Chapter 77

  They rested for exactly ten minutes after lunch.

  Not nine. Not eleven.

  Raime counted them without a clock, without even fully surfacing from his thoughts. His core pulsed faintly in his chest, still recovering, but serviceable. The ache behind his missing eye was dull now. The phantom pain in the absent arm had faded too.

  Ten minutes was enough.

  It was, unfortunately, also far too much for the twins.

  Albert was the first to break.

  “So,” he said, rocking back and forth on his heels, fingers never straying far from the longsword Raime had given him, “are we going now?”

  Victor didn’t even pretend patience. He was already pacing small circles around the table, short blades sheathed but constantly being checked, adjusted, rechecked. “You said we’d go level. You literally said it.”

  “He said after we rested,” Laura replied sharply, arms crossed, gaze flicking between the two boys like a metronome. “And resting means calming down, not vibrating like a jackhammer.”

  “We rested!” Victor protested. “Ten whole minutes!”

  “Which you spent staring at your weapons,” Laura said flatly. “They are not toys.”

  Albert opened his mouth. Closed it. Tried again. “We know that.”

  “Do you?” she asked, eyes narrowing. “Because I distinctly remember being reprimanded for letting you hold kitchen knives not very long ago.”

  “These are different,” Victor muttered.

  “That’s the problem,” Laura snapped. She turned toward Raime, who had just finished stacking the last of the empty plates. “They’re too young for this. They’re still children.”

  Raime met her gaze evenly.

  “I know,” he said.

  That stopped her, just a little.

  “But the dangers outside won’t wait for them to grow,” he continued calmly. “They won’t scale down because they’re ten. And if I don’t start teaching them now, then when something does get through—and it will—they won’t even know how to face it.”

  “They’re excited,” Laura shot back. “They see weapons and monsters and levels and they think it’s a game.”

  “They already had experienced how it is for some days, they will stop being so worked up soon,” Raime said. His voice wasn’t harsh, but there was something immovable beneath it. “Give them a couple of weeks. The excitement will burn out. Those weapons they see as toys will become tools. And then they’ll understand what they really mean.”

  Laura looked away, jaw tight.

  She hated that part of her knew he was right.

  “I don’t like it,” she said quietly.

  “I don’t either,” Raime replied.

  Silence stretched for a moment. Then Alessandro cleared his throat.

  “Well,” he said, forcing a lighter tone, “if we’re doing this, we should at least do it properly.”

  Albert and Victor exchanged a look.

  “Yes,” they said in perfect unison.

  Laura sighed, long and tired. “Fine. But if either of you does something stupid—”

  “We won’t!” Albert promised immediately.

  Victor nodded just as fast. “Totally serious. Super responsible.”

  Laura gave them a look that promised consequences rather than believing them, then gestured sharply. “Go change. All of you.”

  The clothes Raime had provided waited folded on the couch.

  Once worn, the effect was… unsettling.

  The robes were light, woven from metallic strands that caught the light in strange ways, neither fabric nor armor, flexible enough to move naturally yet carrying an undeniable sense of purpose. On all of them, they looked less like a family and more like members of some obscure, unified order.

  “A cult,” Alice muttered under her breath, tugging at the sleeve. “We look like a cult.”

  Raime snorted faintly. She’s not wrong.

  They gathered their gear, slung packs, checked weapons. Laura insisted on double-checking everything herself, hands lingering longer than necessary on her sons’ shoulders.

  “Car,” Raime said once they were ready.

  Alessandro frowned. “There’s no space for everyone.”

  “I’ll fly,” Raime replied immediately.

  Victor’s eyes lit up. “You’re flying?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you fly me?”Asked Albert.

  “Yes, but another time.”

  Albert pumped a fist. “Best brother ever!”

  “Hey!” Victor indignant shout was stopped by Laura’s gaze.

  Laura shot Raime a warning look. “No showing off.”

  He gave her a small, unapologetic smile. “That’s how I goes around these days.”

  Outside, the car rolled forward, and Raime rose smoothly into the air ahead of it, a quiet blur against the ruined skyline. He kept low, not wanting to draw attention, scanning the outskirts as they moved farther from the town’s heart.

  The buildings thinned. Asphalt gave way to broken ground, scrub, and the beginnings of wild terrain reclaimed after the integration.

  Raime felt them before he saw them.

  Predators.

  Big ones.

  He slowed, hovering, eyes narrowing as his perception spread outward. There you are.

  They resembled a mountain-lion, if one of those was mixed with a lizard and made wrong. Larger. Broader. Scales layered where fur should have been, dull and stone-colored, flexing over muscle built for explosive speed. Their movements were fluid, coiled, ready to strike.

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  Good.

  He dropped down and raised a hand. The car slowed and stopped behind him.

  Everyone got out.

  “These,” Raime said, gesturing ahead, “are what you’ll be fighting.”

  Alessandro stared. “Don’t you think that’s a little too dangerous?”

  “Not with me here,” Raime replied calmly. “Look.”

  He raised a finger and fired a weakened beam of light.

  It struck one of the creatures forty, maybe fifty meters away.

  The beast didn’t roar like a cat. It growled—deep, vicious—like an oversized Rottweiler, and charged instantly.

  Fast.

  Faster than a car.

  “Raime!” Alice shouted. “Look out!”

  The creature closed the distance in probably two seconds, three tops, claws outstretched, jaws wide—

  And froze.

  Suspended in midair, muscles locked, eyes still burning with malicious intentions.

  Raime turned slightly toward his family. “To me, these beasts move in slow motion. Nobody will be at risk while I’m here. I don’t even need to look with my eyes—well, eye. I can sense them perfectly.”

  He glanced at Laura.

  “Now, Mom. Shoot it.”

  Laura swallowed hard. Her heart was still hammering, adrenaline roaring in her ears, but she raised the blocky weapon anyway. She focused, and activated one of the skill the System granted her with her class.

  The weapon hummed—not audibly, but inside her perception.

  A blue projectile flashed out.

  It punched straight through the beast’s skull.

  The body dropped, dead before it hit the ground.

  Laura stared at it.

  “…That easy?” she asked faintly.

  Raime nodded. “Prepare yourselves. Start using what I gave you. Get a feel for your new weapons and tools. I’ll attract some others.”

  Everyone stared at him.

  Alice was the first to speak. “Can you give us some time to, you know, try them first?”

  Raime tilted his head, considering, then nodded. “Five minutes.”

  He looked at the twins.

  “In the meantime—Albert. Victor. You’re up.”

  “Hell yeah!” they shouted together—

  —and then promptly went pale as Raime drew two more beasts toward them.

  The creatures gave them only a scant few seconds to reach the twins, then lunged.

  The boys froze.

  Laura shot a bullet at one of the beast, but despite penetrating its chest it didn’t stop it. At the same time the earth shuddered under them but nothing happened.

  As the monster were on top of the twins, they froze too, their claws just centimeters away from the two boys.

  “If you want to fight,” Raime said sharply, “then fight. Don’t freeze and wait for me to save you. I said I’d protect you from harm, not that I will do it for you.”

  Laura looked like she was about to faint.

  Alessandro raised his gauntlet from the ground.

  “…I think I’m doing it wrong,” he muttered.

  Raime flicked a hand and sent the beasts hurling back.

  “Again.”

  This time the beasts circled, wary.

  Albert’s blade flared faintly with light.

  Victor moved, blades raised, steps cautious but deliberate.

  They attacked.

  Poorly.

  Their form was nonexistent. Terrible was generous.

  The beasts danced away with ease, retaliated with terrifying speed.

  Raime froze them again.

  “You’re not tanks, if you want to keep this in gamers terms,” he said coldly. “You can’t take a hit. Anticipate. Strike after they commit. Again.”

  The cycle repeated.

  Again.

  Again.

  Fear burned off. Focus replaced it.

  Victor grazed a leg—scales parted like paper.

  Raime nodded. “Good. Your blades are absurdly sharp. Use that.”

  Albert began using flashes of light to blind his adversary.

  Minutes passed.

  Sweat poured. Muscles burned. Breath came ragged.

  Finally, Raime froze the beasts one last time.

  “Kill them.”

  Victor slit the creature throat, while Albert stabbed it in the heart.

  The bodies fell.

  The twins sagged, panting.

  “Tell me what did you think about your fight.”

  Victor started talking while panting like a dog. “I am too slow compare… haa… compare to them. I can’t dodge quick enough, and I need to learn how not to fumble when I use both swords at the same time.”

  “Not a bad assessment, but on something you are wrong, you are quick enough to dodge, it just will require you to anticipate the attacks, this particular monster while incredibly fast in a straight line is much less quick when moving around, so learn to predict its movements and you’ll be able to kill it unaided. At home I’ll give you some stances and exercises for practicing with the blades.”

  “Yea… ok, whatever, I’m too tired to think…”

  Raime turned.

  “What about you?” He asked Albert.

  “Haa… I feel I need to learn to use the sword properly too, or at least to learn how to walk with it if that make sense… then I have to work on my skills with light, how do you burn them with that ray? Is one of your skill?” Albert asked.

  “No, I don’t have any active skill, I don’t have any class actually, but that’s another thing. You feel like you can’t walk because you are inexperienced in fighting, it look easy when others do it, but actually require practice, the same as victor, you’ll have to do some exercises both for swordfighting and for your mastery of light.”

  “Ok ok, but for now I’m done… that was scary.” The last part Albert muttered it under his breath before sitting down in the car with his brother, they exchanged a look and then looked at the others.

  “You two are next,” he said, pointing at Alessandro and Alice. “Mom, cover distance targets. Dad. Alice. Prepare.”

  Raime turned, light fading from his shoulders as he settled back onto the ground.

  “You two are next,” he said, pointing first at Alessandro, then at Alice. “Mom, cover distance targets. Dad. Alice. Prepare.”

  Laura didn’t wait for further explanation.

  She wasn’t an amateur, she stood—feet apart, shoulders squared, the blocky rifle resting naturally against her shoulder. The weapon hummed again, a faint vibration that seemed to resonate more in her bones than her hands. She narrowed her eyes, tracking movement beyond the brush.

  A scaled shape burst from between the trees.

  Laura inhaled, steady despite the lingering tremor in her chest, and pulled the trigger.

  A thin blue lance of energy crossed the distance in a blink and punched straight through the creature’s torso. It collapsed mid-stride, skidding across dirt and leaves.

  She didn’t lower the weapon.

  Another shape followed. Then another.

  Laura fired again. And again.

  Each shot was clean. Efficient. Lethal.

  She’s much better than I expected, Raime noted, a flicker of approval stirring beneath his focus. No hesitation at all.

  Five beasts fell before the others even realized where they were.

  “Good,” Raime said aloud. “Keep the perimeter safe. Don’t kill the next two I bring.”

  He lifted slightly from the ground, extending his senses outward, and sent two rays of light to two different locations.

  The response was immediate.

  Two more of the mountain-lion creatures turned, snarling, and charged straight toward Alessandro and Alice.

  Alessandro tensed, instinctively raising his arm—the gauntlet catching the light as its runes flickered weakly.

  “I… don’t quite get how this thing—” he started.

  “Feel the ground,” Raime cut in. “Not the gauntlet. The stone.”

  The beast lunged.

  Alessandro planted his feet, panic threatening to seize him—and then the earth beneath the creature buckled.

  A thin slab of stone surged upward, clipping its legs and sending it tumbling sideways. Alessandro stared, stunned, before instinct kicked in. He thrust his gauntleted hand forward again.

  Pebbles tore free from the soil, smashing into the creature’s scaled hide. It growled, staggering, and Alessandro clenched his jaw.

  “Again,” he muttered.

  This time the stone didn’t scatter.

  It flowed.

  Chunks fused together in front of him, layering and compressing until a rough, heavy shield formed in midair. Alessandro dragged it forward just as the beast slammed into him, the impact reverberating up his arms.

  He grunted—but held.

  There it is, Raime thought. Problem-solving under pressure.

  “Don’t push it back,” Raime called. “Control the space.”

  Alessandro gritted his teeth and slammed the shield downward.

  The ground answered.

  A jagged stone spike erupted beneath the creature’s chest, impaling it in a spray of dark blood. The beast convulsed once, then went still.

  Alessandro staggered back, breathing hard, staring at what he’d done.

  “I—did you see that?” he asked, half-disbelieving.

  Raime nodded once. “Good work.”

  Alice’s situation was… less clean.

  Her orb floated shakily in front of her, glowing as she tried to split her focus. One drone darted forward, skittering across the ground with terrifying speed, while another hesitated, turning in confused circles.

  “Why won’t you—no, not that one—wait!” Alice snapped.

  The beast lunged.

  One drone intercepted it in a blur of metal legs, slamming into its side hard enough to knock it off balance. The second arrived a heartbeat later, tearing into its flank.

  But Alice overcorrected.

  The first drone veered wildly, crashing into a tree. The second froze mid-motion, long enough for the beast to swipe at it and send it skidding.

  “Move! Move!” Alice shouted, sweat pouring down her face.

  She’s thinking too much, Raime observed calmly.

  It took longer than it should have.

  But eventually—through sheer stubbornness and frantic commands—the drones overwhelmed the creature, tearing it down piece by piece until it stopped moving.

  Alice put her hands on her knees, breathing hard, hair plastered to her face, glaring daggers at Raime.

  “You are insane,” she hissed.

  Raime shrugged. “You were never in any danger. But it’s important to be able to learn to think under pressure.”

  She didn’t look convinced.

  Laura’s voice cut in sharply. “Another one—left side.”

  Raime snapped his fingers. A focused beam of light carved through the charging beast before it could cross half the distance.

  Then another.

  Then another.

  By the time the dust settled, fifteen more creatures lay dead—some pierced clean through, others dropped mid-leap.

  Raime exhaled slowly, senses stretching outward.

  Too many. Too fast.

  “There’s a portal nearby,” he said quietly.

  Laura lowered her weapon, a hint of pride creeping into her expression. “I’ve killed six Slygi already.”

  Raime glanced at her, unimpressed. “Slygi? Strange name, doesn’t matter,” he said. “Now—kill one in melee.”

  Her smile vanished.

  “What?”

  “I gave you a knife for a reason,” Raime said evenly. “Trust me. It’s a good exercise.”

  Laura stared at him, incredulous.

  Then she snorted. “Fine. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

  Raime had to bite back a laugh.

  This will be fun.